The live a life on wheels, travelling all over Australia for the show circuit.

But who ARE the people who sell you the fairy floss and take your ticket for the dodgems?

At a fundraising footrace held in sideshow alley yesterday, online reporter Emma Sleath met a tight-knit community of show-people.

They've lived and worked together for decades and some of them claim generations of travelling show-people in their family.

"Most of us are family and we've known each other since we were little," says side-show operator Cindy Miller.

"I'm fifth generation of show business, and there's other families are sixth generation, so we're all family orientated."

Cindy has a food van and also runs the dodgem cars and the bumper boats in side-show alley.

She called the foot-race that included young, old, prams, wheelchairs, and even a few eggs.

"This is just for our fancy dress, we have a little fundraiser for the little kids, we've got about 30 kids up here that we just raise money for and just buy presents for them and have a little fun day for them," she says.

Cindy says around 30 families are on the road for the majority of the year, so school-age children are either boarded or stay with relatives and / or friends.

During school holidays, many of the children join their families on the show circuit and it's a world they're certainly familiar with.

Rene Zacchini was a carnie kid until he hit school age - he's now aiming for a career as a professional runner and has just returned from the Oceanic Games in Tahiti.

"I got gold in the 400 hurdles and gold in the 4x4 relay for under 18's," he says.

"...the Youth Olympics in China...that's the next big goal."

"The trips get pretty pricey but mum works and we sort it out, and everything gets done...so it's good."

Rene says he grew up travelling around with his mum (look for her at the shooting gallery) and when school started, he would join her in the school holidays.

"Each week you do your show, pack up, set up, work, pack up, travel the next show...a life on wheels, that's how it is," he says.

"Everyone works together, if someone else is having troubles they'll help them out...it's an awesome lifestyle."